2B — September 25, 2017
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

O’Korn jumps on chance to rewrite story

W

EST LAFAYETTE — 
This isn’t the pretti-
est offense.

There are dropped passes. 

There are blown-up running 
plays. There are botched pass 
protections 
that end 
with 
Michigan’s 
starting 
quarterback 
lying 
motionless 
on the 
turf, badly 
injured, 
before 
he walks 
slowly and gingerly off the field 
towards an unknown fate and 
further medical testing.

Consistency — that’s also 

been missing.

Through the first three 

weeks, issues arose in the red 
zone, where the Wolverines 
scored only one touchdown in 
10 trips. Michigan was 3-of-3 
inside Purdue’s 20-yard line on 
Saturday.

Against Florida, the 

Wolverines ran the ball 49 
times for 215 yards. Michigan 
could muster just 139 yards 
on 44 carries against the 
Boilermakers.

And the big plays — even 

those don’t always come easy.

Perhaps the best example 

came with 6:32 left in the third 
quarter. It was 3rd-and-6, and 
Michigan trailed by three. The 
call was a pass. Purdue entered 
the backfield quickly, and the 
play appeared to be dead in the 
water.

John O’Korn had a different 

idea. He spun out of a near-
certain sack, rolled to his right, 
waited patiently and delivered a 
pass to Grant Perry for a crucial 
12-yard gain.

Led by their fifth-year 

senior backup quarterback, the 
Wolverines would march down 
the field that drive and take a 

lead they never surrendered.

“He played great,” said 

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. 
“He really did. John played a 
heck of a ball game, and we’re 
happy for him. Like I said 
before, thought he came into the 
game seeing things really well 
right off the bat.”

Added sophomore tight end 

Sean McKeon: “(O’Korn) was 
definitely confident. He just 
wanted to do a good job — do 
his job. Make it seem like he 
had confidence in us, and we 
wanted to help him out in any 
way we could. Really got the 
offense going and he did a great 
job today.

“Definitely very proud of him, 

happy for him. He got his shot; 
he made the most of it.”

After a bruising and uneven 

28-10 win, we still don’t know 
much about the identity of 
Michigan’s offense. We do 
know, however, what John 
O’Korn has become — a 
dependable backup whose 
performance in relief of Speight 
may have just reopened the 
quarterback competition.

O’Korn has taken criticism 

in the past for his struggles 
to master the unknown — an 
inability to deal with pressure 
both on and off the field. In 
the summer, he spoke frankly 
about losing his confidence after 
being replaced as the starter 
at Houston. He felt like the 
scapegoat for things that were 
outside of his control; coming 
under that much scrutiny as an 
18-year-old, he admitted, shook 
him. It took a transfer across the 
country, two years and a new 
coach in Pep Hamilton to get 
back what he had lost.

That showed in his play, 

especially in a start last year 
against Indiana — the one 
other time O’Korn has played 
extensively in place of an 
injured Speight. Against the 
Hoosiers, amidst a blizzard, 
O’Korn looked constantly 

harassed — even when he 
wasn’t. He never seemed 
comfortable in the pocket, and 
completed just 7-of-16 passes for 
59 yards.

That game stuck out to him, 

even nearly a year later, for 
what it represented: a missed 
opportunity.

“More than anything, I 

would’ve liked to get a few 
throws back from that game,” 
O’Korn said in August. “… I 
think maybe I pressed a little 
too much, tried to make the big 
play a little too much instead of 
just letting things come to me.”

That was why Saturday’s 

game, during which he 
completed 18-of-26 passes for 
270 yards and one touchdown, 
meant so much to him. He didn’t 
press. He didn’t always try to 

make the big play. He let the 
game come to him. Doing so 
gave him a chance to rewrite the 
book on John O’Korn. It gave 
him a chance to revisit his past 
history — both at Michigan and 
at Houston.

“We all believed in John,” 

said redshirt sophomore tight 
end Zach Gentry, “and I think 
that we were able to buck up 
and rally the troops and get it 
done.”

After his 12-yard touchdown 

pass in the first quarter, O’Korn 
turned and let loose at the 
opposing sideline. He wasn’t 
just yelling in excitement. Later, 
he admitted he was yelling at 
Purdue co-offensive coordinator 
Tony Levine, his former coach 
at Houston.

“I’m human,” O’Korn said. 

“Anytime you get to go out and 
beat your former coach — it was 
his decision to bench me in the 
first place — it’s gonna be an 
emotional night.”

Once the game ended, 

O’Korn lingered on the field 
for the customary post-game 
TV interviews. He answered 
questions with a grin on his 
face, hands on his hips, looking 
happy. When it was over, he 
jogged off to join his teammates.

It’s a path he’s taken plenty of 

times before, at both Houston 
and Michigan. But this time, he 
ran off alone. He was under the 
spotlight, and deservedly so. 
The remaining Michigan fans 
watched as he approached their 
corner of the bleachers. They 
cheered loudly, chanting his 
name in unison.

It may have seemed unlikely 

before the season that John 
O’Korn would have found a 
career’s worth of closure on a 
sweltering Saturday afternoon 
in West Lafayette. And yet, 
that’s exactly what happened.

“It’s been a journey — there’s 

no secret it’s been tough,” 
O’Korn said. “I talked about 
it in camp. The culmination 
of all those things, it was an 
emotional night for me. The 
biggest thing, I’m just happy 
that I can contribute to a great 
win on the road. Beat the 
elements, beat the team in their 
own house and have a happy 
flight home.”

Sang can be reached at 

otsang@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @orion_sang.

ORION
SANG

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Fifth-year senior quarterback John O’Korn had a moment of redemption in West Lafayette on Saturday, leading the Wolverines to a victory over Purdue.

Gentry shines against Boilermakers

WEST 
LAFAYETTE 
— 

Zach Gentry trotted off the 
field 
at 
Ross-Ade 
Stadium, 

alone, christened by cheers of 
adoration.

He 
reached 
the 
corner 

of the end zone — the same 
corner in which he scored 
what was arguably Michigan’s 
most important touchdown of 
the game. Fans pleaded with 
him, desperate for a piece of 
game-worn Michigan football 
memorabilia.

The 
redshirt 
sophomore 

obliged, removing one of his 
gloves and tossing into the first 
row. It landed in a teenage girl’s 
possession, and she instantly 
fitted it to her left hand — a 
perfect accessory to the maize 
Michigan shirt that she was 
already 
wearing. 
Then 
she 

pulled out her iPhone, held 
the glove next to her face, and 
flashed a smile for the camera.

One day ago, his glove and 

her photo wouldn’t have meant 
much. Frankly, the recipient of 
Gentry’s glove might have had 
no idea who he was at all, if not 
for the name on the back of his 
jersey.

On 
Saturday, 
that 
all 

changed.

Gentry put forth a breakout 

performance in a game that the 
Wolverines may have needed it 
more than ever. He wasn’t the 
only tight end to star in West 
Lafayette, as sophomore Sean 
McKeon led all receivers with 
five catches for 82 yards. Gentry 
himself tallied three catches for 
48 yards with Michigan’s lone 
receiving touchdown.

But when redshirt junior 

quarterback 
Wilton 
Speight 

went down midway through the 
first quarter with an injury that 
ended his day, fifth-year senior 
John O’Korn needed someone 
to lean on.

Lucky for him, Gentry didn’t 

wait to oblige.

With just under 12 minutes 

left in the second quarter, the 
Wolverines found themselves 
in the red zone on O’Korn’s 
opening 
drive. 
After 
two 

straight carries by fifth-year 
senior Ty Isaac, Michigan was 
facing a 3rd-and-4 on Purdue’s 
12-yard line.

For a different team, at a 

different time, a field goal in 
the second quarter may have 
been easier to stomach. With a 
backup quarterback, coming off 
a game in which four red zone 
trips ended with no touchdowns 
to show for it, it meant a whole 
lot more.

O’Korn 
took 
the 
snap. 

Gentry shed a lineman before 
streaking, wide open, across the 
10-yard line on a crossing route. 
O’Korn made the simple play, 
dumping it to his tight end.

The rest was up to Gentry. He 

had one man to beat to the pylon, 
and he did, diving into the end 
zone for the first touchdown of 
his collegiate career.

“We saw the specific defense 

they were in, and Coach (Pep 
Hamilton) and Coach (Tim 
Drevno) made a good play call,” 
Gentry said. “Luckily it popped 
open, and I’m excited about it. 
Felt good to get the first one out 
of the way.”

There 
was 
no 
grand 

celebration — just a quick point 

to the cameras before flipping 
the ball to the ref. It looked like 
it was all business, a surprising 
fact for a man who converted to 
the position just roughly two 
years ago, around the time that 
Michigan was preparing to face 
Florida in the Citrus Bowl.

Gentry may have once been a 

coveted quarterback prospect, 
but on Saturday, he finally had 
a performance that looked like 
the culmination of years of 
work — complete with the big 
plays that helped Michigan 
avoid what once looked like a 
disastrous fate.

“It’s something that takes 

time,” he said. “I’ve been able 
to go out and execute and (the 
coaches have) been helping me 
out a lot with that.”

His second highlight came in 

the fourth quarter. Freshman 
wide 
receiver 
Donovan 

Peoples-Jones was flagged for 
an illegal block. What would 
have been 2nd-and-11 on the 
Purdue 16-yard line turned into 
1st-and-25 on the Boilermakers’ 
31.

The Wolverines may have led 

by four, but that wasn’t quite 
comfortable enough.

Gentry made his mark again, 

single-handedly 
cancelling 

out the penalty by contorting 
his body on the next play to 
register a 25-yard reception 
down the seam and record 
what may have been the most 
impressive quarterback-receiver 
connection of Michigan’s young 
season.

O’Korn put the ball in a 

place that only Gentry could 
catch it. And Gentry rewarded 
his quarterback for it. Even he 
couldn’t quite put the play into 
words.

“I don’t know,” Gentry said. 

“I just looked straight up and 
(O’Korn) threw a good back 
shoulder ball, and I was able to 
adjust to it successfully. And it 
was actually a good ball cause 
there was a guy inside me.”

Three catches may seem 

pedestrian, but not for Gentry.

It has been a long path to 

Saturday night, but he finally 
had his moment.

As for the glove, well, some 

teenager is going to have quite 
the story to tell tomorrow 
morning. And she definitely 
won’t have to explain who Zach 
Gentry is anymore.

KEVIN SANTO

Managing Sports Editor

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Redshirt sophomore tight end Zach Gentry scored Michigan’s lone passing touchdown against the Boilermakers.

The troubling state
of the offensive line
W

EST LAFAYETTE — 
Two quarterbacks took 
the field for Michigan 

on Saturday. One got knocked out 
of the game 
in the first 
quarter, 
while the 
other led the 
Wolverines 
to a 28-10 
victory.

At first 

glance it 
might seem 
like their 
days were 
polar opposites, but both redshirt 
junior quarterback Wilton Speight 
and fifth-year senior John O’Korn 
shared a common thread against 
Purdue. They were let down by 
their offensive line.

Speight dropped back to pass, 

and all he could see was black.

The Boilermaker defensive line 

collapsed on him in seconds, and 
Speight was on the ground. But 
that wasn’t the worst hit he took on 
the day.

Moments later, another defender 

rammed into him from behind, and 
it took Speight a long time to get up.

The trainers helped him to his 

feet and Speight walked off under 
his own power, but clearly hurt, he 
never returned to the field.

The game was still tied at zero, 

and there were still 50 minutes left 
to be played.

Near the halfway point of the 

third quarter — with Michigan 
down 10-7 — a sequel was almost 
greenlit.

But just as films would bomb at 

the box office if they stuck to the 
same script, the Wolverines would 
have suffered a similar fate if they 
didn’t add a new twist to either the 
characters or the storyline.

O’Korn dropped back to pass, 

and all he could see was black.

Purdue broke through the 

offensive line and swarmed 
O’Korn. He maneuvered in and out 
of harm’s way, managing to stay 
on his feet long enough to convert 
a 3rd-and-6 pass. They went on to 
score a touchdown on that drive to 

retake the lead, and they never fell 
behind again.

In this case, the storyline didn’t 

change. Despite coming away with 
a win, that could be a disconcerting 
trend for Michigan.

For a unit whose central purpose 

is to protect the quarterback, the 
Wolverines’ offensive line put forth 
an underwhelming performance.

Purdue came into Saturday’s 

game with only one sack. The 
Boilermakers left it with four 
more, totaling 28 yards in losses. 
They also tallied four other 
tackles-for-loss, forced a fumble 
and intercepted a pass on the day, 
and that’s only in the metrics that 
statisticians keep track of.

Based on the eye test, both 

Speight and O’Korn were hassled, 
hurried and harassed by Purdue, 
and the Wolverines’ offensive line 
couldn’t stand its ground.

This isn’t a new issue for 

Michigan. After losing three of its 
five starters from a season ago, it 
was expected that they would need 
time to develop a rhythm as a unit.

But as the Big Ten opener 

showed, conference play won’t 
afford them many opportunities 
to work out the kinks. The 
Boilermakers presented a serious 
threat because they outmuscled the 
Wolverines at the line of scrimmage 
from the outset.

The offensive line’s one bright 

moment Saturday came on the 
same drive in which O’Korn 
escaped to find Grant Perry. Set 
up just shy of the end zone at the 
10-yard line, Michigan had Purdue 
on its heels. Running back Chris 
Evans lined up behind O’Korn, and 
it looked like a run play was coming.

It didn’t matter if the 

Boilermaker defense picked up on 
it. The line moved them out of the 
way entirely, and Evans trotted into 
the end zone untouched for his first 
touchdown of the year.

That’s an encouraging sign that 

the Wolverines will need to build 
on as they progress through the Big 
Ten season.

If they don’t, Michigan’s 

quarterbacks could spend a lot of 
time lying on their backs.

BETELHEM
ASHAME

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